This application is related to and claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-242673 filed on Aug. 9, 2001, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving system for driving mode switching doors and a temperature control unit by using a single actuator in a vehicle air conditioner. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mode switching pattern when an air outlet mode is manually set.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional vehicle air conditioner, an inside/outside air switching door, mode switching doors and a temperature control unit such as an air mixing door and a hot water valve are independently operated by actuators (servomotors), respectively. Therefore, many actuators are required, thereby increasing production cost of the vehicle air conditioner.
In order to reduce the number of the actuators, the inventors of the present invention proposes a single actuator for performing an air temperature control and a switching operation of an air outlet mode. That is, the air outlet mode is switched to a face mode, a bi-level mode and a foot mode as an operation position of a temperature control unit moves from a low-temperature side to a high-temperature side, so that the temperature control and the switch operation of the air outlet mode are performed by the single actuator.
However, when the temperature control and the switching operation of air outlet mode are performed by using the single actuator, the relationship between the operation position of the temperature control unit and the switching operation of the air outlet mode is fixed at a fixed relationship. Accordingly, for example, it is impossible to set an air-conditioning state where high-temperature air or low-temperature air is blown toward upper and lower sides in a passenger compartment in the bi-level mode, and a selection range of the air conditioning state becomes narrow. Alternatively, it is difficult to set a defroster mode whenever a windshield is fogged, regardless of the operation position of the temperature control unit.
In view of the foregoing problems, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a vehicle air conditioner where an automatic range and a manual range can be set at different operation angle ranges of an actuator while a temperature control unit and a mode switching member can be operated by the actuator. In the automatic range, one of air outlet modes is automatically switched in accordance with an operation position of the temperature control unit. In the manual range, only a multi-mode or a defroster mode is manually switched at any time by a passenger.
It is a second object of the present invention to reduce of an operation angle of the actuator in the vehicle air conditioner.
It is a third object of the present invention to restrict a temperature change in air blown into a passenger compartment in a mode switching of the manual range.
According to the present invention, in a vehicle air conditioner, a single actuator for driving both a temperature control unit and a mode switching member is operated in a first operation angle range and in a second operation angle range different from the first operation angle range, and a control unit for controlling operation of the actuator sets an automatic range in the first operation angle range of the actuator, and a manual range in the second operation angle range in the actuator. In the automatic range, one mode among plural air outlet modes is automatically switched by the mode switching member in accordance with an operation position of the temperature control unit. On the other hand, in the manual range, one of predetermined modes is manually set by the mode switching member, regardless of the operation position of the temperature control unit. In addition, the predetermined modes in the manual range are only a multi-mode where air is blown simultaneously from a face opening, a foot opening and a defroster opening, and a defroster mode where air is blown from the defroster opening. By setting the multi-mode, functions corresponding to a bi-level mode and a foot/defroster mode can be obtained. Because only the multi-mode and the defroster mode are set in the manual range, an operation angle range of the actuator for the manual range can be made smaller, and an entire operation angle of the actuator can be reduced. Further, the change in the temperature of air blown into the passenger compartment can be restricted in the manual range, and air-conditioning felling for a passenger in a passenger compartment can be improved in the manual range. Here, the air outlet modes in the automatic range can include a face mode where air is blown from the face opening, a bi-level mode where air is blown from both the face opening and the foot opening, and a foot mode where air is blown from the foot opening.
Preferably, among the multi-mode and the defroster mode in the manual range, the multi-mode is set adjacent to the automatic range, relative to a change of the operation angle of the actuator. Therefore, the multi-mode that satisfies general requests of the passenger can be readily manually set in a short time only by slightly changing the operation angle of the actuator from the automatic range. Alternately, among the multi-mode and the defroster mode in the manual range, the defroster mode is set adjacent to the automatic range relative to the change of the operation angle of the actuator. In this case, the defroster mode required for a safety driving can be set by slightly changing the operation angle of the actuator from the automatic range in a short time. Therefore, in this case, a windshield of the vehicle can be rapidly defrosted.
Preferably, a single operation member is disposed to manually set the multi-mode and the defroster mode in the manual range by a manual operation of the operation member. Therefore, the multi-mode and the defroster mode in the manual range can be readily manually set.